Thursday, September 29, 2011

Templar in the middle lands are both hated and admired just depending on who you are. After the battle with Arizun empire to the south the Templar returned from battle with great wealth and power. What most people did not know is that a lot of that wealth was funneled back to the masters of the order over the many years of the southern wars. Allowing the masters of the order to acquire great power in the central church. When the Templar returned from the wars they amassed great power in the land as well. Many of the Templar were the second and third sons of the nobility. gaining enough power to place their grand master at the head of the central church.

The moment Grandmaster Aurtorus Labastion became the Archbishop of the central church sweeping changes were put into effect. First an alliance was made with the Cathaen nobility, Buying a huge chunk of land from them to become the new home of the church. All of the elders of the Templar order were promoted and placed over the many other orders with in the central church. The Temple castle was built to house the new head of the church.

Depending on who you ask in the Cathaen nobility this close associations with the Templar is a curse or a boon. Twice the church has put down rebellions against the Cathaen crown. And once supported a rebellion against it.

The new Order of the temple knight are all over the middle lands. They server the temple first. And worshipers at the temple. And second the church. While all kingdoms of the middle lands have churches of the central church. The power of the church in those lands vary greatly from kingdom to kingdom.

------------------------------------------------------------------

As player characters Templar are are most often knights by class. About one in one hundred are of the order of paladins. Paladins are the elite warrior monks of the Templar order. But a representative of the Order could be of any class. In the east there is Templar supported band of rangers who's leader is charged by the order to keep the wild lands from spilling into the middle lands.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

What are some of the things about Palladium system that I contribute to it being old school or even just old school flavor?

Palladium doesn't not have a rule for every possible action by a player. That is up to the GM to come up with.
Maybe this is not to your taste and you like more rules. But palladium is what it is.

Palladium uses alignment, Its not the good/evil, Law/chaos axis from AD&D. But its not so removed any D&D player cant find a parallel to D&D.

Palladium has hit point. Sure it also has structural points, no matter how you split it thought its hit points.

Palladium has saving throws. while all editions of D&D have saving throws. Palladium's saving throws are way closer to AD&D saves than 3E saves, that is old school flavor to me.

Palladium's system is not obsessed with balance is classes. While this is a turn off to some. I think its great. For a good group it just fine. For a bad group you can always restrict what you don't want. As a GM I would rather have the freedom to choose than have the design of the game choose what is acceptable for a player character. To me this is also old school.

I could go on and on. But the funny thing is I don't think any one else thinks of Palladium as an old school system. Because its still in print. Still the same old system. There is no new palladium system, so I cant go to the forums of the new game and post about how the new edition raped my child hood. There is no out of print edition for me to retro clone.

Can a game be old school if it has not weathered at least one edition war? do you think an in print game be old school?

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

I was flipping through stars with out numbers and it got me thinking. With so many new nostalgia and retro clones games being written and played based on older edition of D&D and AD&D. This is an excellent time for palladium books to make a resurgence. After all it started as a set of house rules to expand and customize 1e AD&D.

Despite all the internet rumblings about Palladium books, they really have put out a lot of really fun products in the last few years. System failure, Chaos earth, and Splicers, just to name a few.

Despite being known for power gaming paradise the whole character creation processes really is story driven. With a lot of work going into characters background and info.

Palladium system has been in print in one form or another since '83. Very few old school games have gone so long and still using the same system. While some don't like that fact and feel it needs to be updated. Personally I think its great that I just picked up 11 palladium books and as I started flipping through them I'm looking at the exact game I used to run near 15 years ago. Does it get more nostalgia than that.

It also seems that Palladium books made a recovery from almost going under back in 2005 and was only saved because of its fans. Which is a testament in and of its self as to its fan base. Palladium was at Gen Con this year, first time in a long time. Palladium books is back on track reprinting a lot of its older books and bringing out not just new products but also its in house magazine "The Rifter". Seems Palladium is making its way back on to the gaming market. Maybe its not as big as it once was, But to its fans its a company worth sticking with and fighting for.

Monday, August 15, 2011

I think one of the big complaints in Rifts is that the OCCs/RCCs are not balanced to each other. While I don't see this as a huge problem myself I guess I can understand how some people look at it. As the GM I usually let the players know what kind of game I'm about to run. I don't feel bad one bit restricting an OOC or RCC if I feel its not with in the power level of the game I want to run. You dont have to allow it just because its in the book.

As a matter of a fact I've been thinking about running a street level game set in chi town. With all street level characters. Imagine a group of bounty hunters ducking coalition patrols. Taking on clandestine missions for one group or another.

I recently picked up chaos earth. Its basically the prequel to Rifts. Set at the beginning of the end of the world. While a lot of the same tech is available the power level of the whole game is a lot lower. Its really a great way to run lower powered games. A lot of OOCs from bionics source book and other books that are considered underpowered for Rifts would be great for Chaos earth. I think a fun game would be to start players as SDC only characters. Sure military gear is out there...but you don't get to just start with it.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

In my last post here. I posted about this setting I was working on. I thought I would start with character creation. Since I don't want to pigeon hold anyone into playing a cookie cutter character I thought I would just spell out basic archetypes and gear used by agents. And let the players use it as a loose guide.

Agents of Eagle

Eagle is clandestine government agency that deals with things that go bump in the night. The true men in black. The agency has no history, Since it does not exist on paper at all there is no history passed on to new agents. All that is know is that the agency has been around since the 30s. A lot of older cases have influence over work currently being done.

Types of agents.Command: These agents are leaders. Often experienced (older) agents with well rounded arsenal of skills. Command agents need to have some charisma and social skills. Need to excel in leadership and have at some skills in combat, Tech, and athletics.Techi: These agents are either computer wizards or grease monkeys. Some are a little of both. Usually young and a bit less experienced than other agents. While the socially awkward nerd is a terrible stereotype. Its also more often than not true.Field Agents: These agents are the go to guys. They are the most common type of agent in any unit. Often excelling in one area or another, they are more often than not very versatile agents. From high charisma face man to experienced wheel-man. These agents are usually recruited from law enforcement, private investigation, and corporate security outfits.Tactical: These agents are the hitters. Recruited from elite law enforcement and elite military forces like Swat and navy seals. These agents are always experienced with all kinds of weapons. From hand to hand combat,
firearms, and even melee weapons.

Weapons of the trade:
Agents of eagle are issued a 9mm pistol of their choosing. The most common is the Beretta 92. This weapon is an agents standard sidearm. It is for dealing with mundane threats.

Beretta 92 Pistol (Blast 3)

All agents are also issued a small specialized revolver. This revolver resembles a .38 special. The ammo issued for it are very specialized. From silver bullets to rune ammo. After a lot of experimenting it was found that specialized ammo is way more reliable out of these modified revolvers than auto-loads. Also most agents like to mix types of ammo in speed loaders. This allows the agent to quickly spin the cylinder and choose his ammo in seconds.

Tactical Agents are often issued a The Steyr TMP (Tactical Machine Pistol) in the place of their side arm. This weapon has the same stats as any other 9mm pistol. But is capable of burst and full auto fire.

Command Agents are allowed to trade out their side arm for a custom sawn-off shotgun.

Custom sawn-off shotgun (Blast 4, up close)

(Blast 3, Medium range, up to 3 close targets.)

(blast 2 for targets up to long range)

All agents are issued and encouraged to wear light body armor under their suits. This armor is designed to be as comfortable as possible. Its even fitted with packs of ICE cooling gel system that keep the agent cool. The right shoulder of the armor has a built in palm sized computer. The comp runs to a button cam on suit. This video feed is fed to command HQs and to the agents glasses giving the agents night vision and protection against blinding flashes. The mini comp also acts as a communicator between agents and a cell phone.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

I'm working on a setting for ICONS Rpg. Its a setting that revolves around a shadowy government agency That stands between us and the darkness. Reading about SIGILS (ICONS RPG swords and sorcery) really got me thinking about using ICONS in other settings other than supers. More to come.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

While I have made it clear I don't see the RIFTS system as broken, I do see them ripe for house ruling. One things I don't like is percentile skill systems. I really would like to make it an attribute roll system. Giving attributes a bigger role in the system. I would love going to a 3d6 roll under attribute system for skills. Until then though I think I got a quick fix.

I'm simply going to convert the percentile system into a d20 system. Every 5% is equal to 1 in 20 on a d20. Simply divide the total skill by 5 and round down.

So if a character has a total value in a skill of 45% then he would have a 9 in that skill. A d20 roll is made trying to roll under the skill just like with the percentile system.

My other Idea I'm still toying with is to tun it around and make it a positive modifier and rolling against a target difficulty set by the GM. This one I need to put some more thought and go over the numbers a few times.

Monday, August 1, 2011

I have been thinking about adapting ICONS to settings other than super heroes. Looks like some one already did a fantasy adaption. Called SIGILS. I'm looking it over now. Really got my wheels turning now.

On the surface it seems kind of silly after all this time getting back into Palladium games. Mainly because I have gone to mostly rules lite systems. And Palladium games have a reputation for being complex. But tell you the truth I just reread the rules in Rifts, Chaos earth, Nightbane, System failure and Palladium Fantasy. And I actually find the system rather elegant. And not complex in the slightest.

Here is the basics to combat. Any roll (if you have the weapon proficiency) over 4 is a hit.

Defenders can roll to parry, Dodge or roll with punch/blast.

If its a maga-damage (This is very high tech armor) world, damage is removed from available Maga-damage then strutural damage capacity and next hit points.

If damage is against SDC (structural damage capacity) armor, This is anything from a bullet proof vest to plate mail. It has an armor rating (AR). A roll over 4 but under the AR number the damage goes to armor. If its above the AR number the wearer take the damage.

If the damage is against Natural SDC Like a turtle shell or dragon scale. Rolls below AR do not penetrate the armor. Rolls above AR penetrate and do damage to the armor first. Then to the targets hit points.

I really like this. I like that I can have more than one type of armor. Fighting a dragon with a sword is not the same as firing on a hover tank with a laser rifle. And I know how to resolve a hover tank firing on a dragon.

I'm really digging the fantasy magic systems too. Great to see different flavors of magic.

And yes its a class and level based system. But its doesn't feel like one. There is no real bloat from level to level. Sure you get a few more hit points, Get some hand to hand combat bonuses and your skills get better. But a level one juicer is not really weak compared to a level 10 juicer.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

I noticed some grumbling about Fighters in C&C. The main complaint is that combat dominance is too weak of an ability. In my own games I really haven't noticed it since hordes of goblins are my favorite cannon fodder. I really find that in C&C even low level monsters are still dangerous. But lets look at a few options.

COMBAT DOMINANCE: At 4th level, the fighter gains an extra attack with
any weapon when fighting opponents with 1 hit die at. In order to use this
ability, the fighter must direct all attacks in a combat round against opponents
that meet these criteria. The fighter can split the available attacks among
qualified opponents as desired. This ability improves as the fighter progresses in
levels. The fighter gains an additional attack for every four levels gained after
4th level. So, at 8th level, the fighter is allowed a total of three attacks.

One option for this I have seen is exchanging Combat dominance for Cleave.Cleave: At 4th level, the fighter gains the ability to follow through after dropping an opponent.When fighting with a melee weapon, if a fighter deals enough damage to drop an opponent to 0 orless hit points, he gets an immediate extra attack against an opponent in reach. The fighter cannotmove to make this additional attack. The extra attack is with the same weapon and at the samebonus as the attack that dropped the previous creature. This ability can only be used once perround. It stacks with the Extra Attack ability, so a 10th level fighter will get three attacks if hedrops an opponent with a melee weapon that round.

While I think cleave is a good ability I would like to go over a few more options.

First an alternate cleave ability.Cleave: At 4th level, the fighter gains the ability to swing his weapon in a way to take advantage of the weapons arch. When making an attack against a target that has an adjacent foe you may make a single attack against both targets. A single roll is made and compared to both defenses (AC). If the roll would be a hit against both targets both take damage.

Another option.Fighting stances: Fighters get 3 stances. After rolling initiative fighters get to choose a stance to assume for the battle. The first stance is balanced stance. Balance stance is middle of the road it imparts no penalties and no bonuses and is balanced. The second stance is battle stance. Battle stance is aggressive. Battle stance trades defense for viscous attacks. Being in battle stance imparts a -2 to defense (AC) but grants a +1 to attack and +1 to damage rolls. The last stance is defensive stance. Defensive stance imparts a -1 to to attack and - 1 to damage rolls, But grants a +2 to defense (AC). Balance 0

I do not make all these house rules because I think C&C is broken. I think C&C's Siege engine is great. But I see no reason not to tweak the system a little. I'm a tinkerer for one' and second I like to mold the system to the setting. I dont always run C&C in the same setting.

Along with the rest of my huge list of house rules for C&C. Why not have a 3d6 option.
I really do like a bell curve. But using 3d6 does mean adjusting a few numbers. One great thing about the siege engine is that most all rolls are against a base difficulty of 12 or 18, depending on if the attribute you are rolling against is prime or not. So all that really needs adjusted in those base target numbers.

First lets looks at primary attributes. A primary attribute base is 12 in standard C&C. For a d20 this is this is supposed to be a roll that is just slightly easier than 50% for a 1st level character with an above average prime attribute.. For a 3d6 most rolls will be average of 10.I think this would be a good target number for a primary attribute roll.

For secondary attributes the base difficulty is 18.
This would be way too difficult for a 3d6 roll. So I feel the difficulty for secondary attribute should be a 14.

This is all just a first impression and needs some play testing. I'll follow up once I have tried it all out.

Monday, July 18, 2011

I really like how the siege engine works in C&C. Why not use the siege engine for combat too? Rolling to hit would be simply rolling on whatever stat you would roll to attack on normally for a siege check (Str for melee, Dex for ranged). And armor bonuses would add to the difficulty of the roll.

So for example if your strength was prime your target number to hit with a broad sword would be 12. If the target was well aware of the attack (Dex bonus of +1) and wearing leather armor (+2) the difficulty to hit him would be a 15. (this is not entirely a new idea, a Variation is used in starsiege.)

This option may work even better in a setting where armor is damage reduction rather than an armor class bonus. Making difficulties to hit just your base difficulty and dex bonus. (as it is in star siege.)

Another option to sprout off of that last one would be to do both. Armor adds to difficulty to hit. And also gives a damage reduction based on how heavy it is. 1 point for light armor, 2 for medium, and 3 for heavy.

This could also be split into two ways too. Regular armor bonus adding to difficulty to hit. While magic defense bonuses are damage reduction. Or switch that and make magic make you hard to hit and magic is damage reduction.

Remember, Now that an attack roll is a siege check add your level to attack rolls.

A few posts back I explored the idea of using Epic 6. I have been putting even more thought into this. I really want to use Epic 6 to represent a gritty and dangerous world for a setting I'm working on.

Here is a reworking of some of the basic rules I will be using with Epic6 to make Gritty6. Character cant level above 6th level as in Epic6. Any mortal man at level six is an epic hero, some one of legend.

First off hit points. All character start off with 2d6 HP. If you prime is Strength or Constitution then change starting HP to 2d8. If the character has a Constitution bonus in the positive add it to the total at first level only. That is it. All characters will start with between 2d6 and 2d8+ (Con bonus) hit points. No new hit points are gained each new level.

Attack rolls. On any attack roll that exceeds the "to hit" number needed by five weapons do automatic maximum damage. On a natural roll of 20 weapon damage is doubles. These two do stack. So a roll of 20 that is 5 greater than the roll needed will do double maximum damage.

Im sure more ideas on this will jump out at me. This is just what I got for now.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

How could I not like ICONS.
I'm a huge FUDGE and FATE fan. Have been since about 1996 when I first ran across an older copy of FUDGE online. Being a huge Dresden files fan doesn't hurt since evil hat productions used FATE for the dresden files game.

Icons is a simple but elegant little system that is really more akin to FUDGE with out words for values than it is FATE. and really doesn't use aspects at all, Which is really what makes FATE different from FUDGE.

Icons uses a style that is very loose and lite on rules. Its also has a style about it that reminds me of the old marvel universe RPG.

The one and only thing about ICONS I find weird is rolling 2D6 and subtracting one from the other. In a of FUDGE and FATE books there are a lot of alternate dice techniques. I think the 1D6 - 1D6 method is my least favorite. Although that doesn't really concern me since I have FUDGE dice.

A lot of what I see for ICONS looks good. But nothing grabbed my attention more than the work being done by Vigilance Press.

In the southern reaches of the middle lands is the great desert of red sand. While many dangers await adventurers trying to cross the sand. The desert troll is an opportunist hunter. Often following its prey, waiting for it to be at its weakest before attacking. Desert troll have thick and scaly hide that matches the color of the surrounding red sand. After attacking and either killing or severely injuring its prey the desert troll will drag it back to its cave. Often stringing up what it doesn't eat immediately in a deep reach of the cave to be eaten later.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Vɑ̃piʀ are Creatures of the night. They hunt the shadows and dark alleys of most major cities. Like their vampire cousins they live on the blood of other humanoids. Many also enjoy the flesh as well. While vampires cling to some semblance of their human lives, vɑ̃piʀ do not. They are instinctual hunters who use the sewers and dark ally ways of over crowded human cities as private game reserves. Although animalistic, thay are smart enough to pick off those that will not be missed. Or find ways of disposing bodies in a way that can be explained as natural or at least not supernatural.

One thing I really like about 3.0/3.5 was the ease of multi-classing. To do so you pretty much need a single level progression for all classes. There are one or two different options for multi-classing in C&C, none of them have the ease of 3.0/3.5 multi-classing. Once again the beauty of C&C is that its math is based on the d20 system and is easily ported over. I thought I would use pathfinders progression for an example. Pathfinder offers three different progression speeds. slow, medium, and fast. So you can set the pace of your game.

The other option for this is to use the System laid out in True20. Which is there is no system in True20. In that system the GM just decides when you level. He looks at your accomplishments and tells you when you have reached the next level. As a group, or individually. Many gamers have a knee jerk reaction to not like this option. But I really think its great. Since the GM decided when you earn Experience any way it just knows down the pretense that leveling is some how up to the system and not the GM.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

The castle keepers guide is out for castles and crusades. It is such a great book. The main sections of the book are character options, running a campaign, and how to use the siege engine to run the game you really want to run.

I really wish I had more time to do a full review of the CKG. One thing I can say is this is a great book and an example of the kind of great work being done by the trolls over at troll lord games.

The more I read over castles and crusades the more I love it. Its become more and more my go to system for fantasy. Its got an old school sensibility with new OGL inspired math. Making it cross compatible with most every thing else I think is good.

A sample of what you will find in the CKG: (From the troll lord website)

Alternative methods of attribute generation

The featured classes expanded to the 24th level

Equipment: outfitting for a setting, saving throws, usage, costs

Expansion on the Magic with components, spell costs, holy symbols, water, and more

Monday, July 4, 2011

This Idea kind came to me when thinking of a simple skill system for S&W or OSRIC. My Idea is to port over how percentile systems like basic roleplaying system or Rune Quest do skills. All skills start as 3, 5 or Cant be used unskilled. Most all unskilled skills start at 2 with the first skill point applied.

Skill points are applied to the starting value of a skill. Then attribute bonuses are added to get the number needed to roll. For example Aurstin a ranger has the tracking skill. Being a ranger he starts with a base skill of 5. He has applied 4 of his starting skill points to tracking. Aurstin has a wisdom bonus of +1. So his total skill level is 5+4+1= 10. So on a roll of 10 or under Austin's skill check would be a success.

One of the reasons I really like this is because I use attribute checks for most on the fly rolls. This would unify most of my d20 mechanics for these systems.

The Only was to truly unify all d20 rolls is to use a form of descending Armor class with a roll under system. Interesting. Very interesting.

Monday, May 23, 2011

While looking around on stargazer games I noticed that Michael Wolf the author of WR&M was working on a scifi game using the same system, called Wyrm SF (Wyrm being the name of the system these games share). I got intrigued, so went over to the forums to check on progress on it. A post there really caught my interest.

Mr. Wolf proposed the idea of adding tags or qualities to weapons to add uniqueness to them. Here is the post:

So, let's look at an example:

In RAG a light machine gun has the following stats: Skill (Ranged), Damage (9), Range (Long)

These stats could form the basis for any light machine gun in Wyrm SF. But there might be variants like these:

I thought adding tags to weapons is a way to add a lot of variety to the simple system of WR&M.
For example an assassins dagger could have an armor penetration (AP 1 ignoring 1 point defense from armor) tag. Distinguishing it from other daggers.

I think Qualities is going to be the choice term.

I have decided that not all items will have qualities. Just items that are well crafted or magical. This will keep the game running simple. But draw greater distinction to better gear and magical items. Items with qualities will fall into 3 categories. High crafted, Master crafted, and Magical.

High crafted: (HC) This weapon is well made by an experienced craftsman. It will cost and often sell for double that of an average weapon of the same type (more if it has another quality attached). High crafted items gain a +1 to damage and can often have one (and only one) other quality attacked to it.

Master crafted: (MC) These items are forged by great masters. Their quality and workmanship have no equal. Master craft items will cost 8 to 10 times that of an average weapon of the same type (depending on the number of other qualities). High crafted Items gain a +1 to damage like high crafted. But master crafted items may have up to two other qualities attacked to it.

Magic: (MA) This quality shows that a weapon is magical. For all purposes the weapon is a magical item and can strike creatures that could not normally be harmed by mundane weapons. Most magical weapons give off some kind of glow but not all. Most magical items will be imbued with at least one other magical quality. There is no limit to the number of qualities a Magical Item may have on it.

Added qualities:

Armor penetrating: (AP) This quality will have a value from 1 to 2 if it is high or master crafted weapon. And can have a range from 1 to 4 as a magical quality. The number represents the number of defense from armor an attack with this weapon may ignore. But only defense from armor.

Accurate: (AC) This quality will have a value from 1 for being a master crafted item. And can have a value from 1 to 3 as a magical quality. This quality gives the user a bonus in combat to strike his opponent.

Slaying: (SL) This quality grants a bonus to damage against a single creature type. This quality will range from 1 to 3 and can only be applied to weapons with the magic quality. Slaying weapons glow brightly when they are with in 100' of the creature they are a slayer of.

Wizards: (WZ) This quality can only be on a staff or Rod. Only weapons with the magic quality may have wizards quality on it. This weapon works as a channel for raw mana. The character may channel one point

of mana into to fire a mana shard at an opponent. The range of a mana shard is 40' and requires a roll on thaumaturgy to hit.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

As I'm sure any one keeping track will notice I'm really digging Modern20. While I already had the true20 book for this setting I went and picked it up for Modern20 too. It brought back to me every thing I really liked about it. I've always liked cyberpunk as a setting. A lot of cyberpunk games are stuck in the era they were created in and not really up to date with modern technology let alone future tech. Interface zero is an up to date cyberpunk setting.

What really stands out to me about IZ is the choices in character creation. As with a lot of cyberpunk games you can choose to be a human, genetically enhanced human, and a human altered by animal DNA. But how many games can you play an AI living in a cyber form body? Or a combat simulacrum? And not just one of each but 3 kinds of AI characters and 3 kinds of simulacrum.

While reading this I got the idea of the hacker of the group who lives in the deep (net) but dons a cyber form body to walk among the meat world. He could also be the wheel man. Actually he could interface with the vehicle and be the wheels.

So many Ideas swirl around in my head about character creation. And its just the first 31 pages of the book. The Timeline and setting info is great. Its a true look forward from the world we live in now and not how the future may have looked looking forward from the 80s.

There is a True20, Modern20, and Savage Worlds version of the setting. I Cant recommend this setting enough to cyberpunk fans.

As a big fan of the Dresden Files book series I have really been thinking about running a game in it. Or in a modern fantasy setting very influenced by it.

Vampires Play a big part of the Dresdenverse, And I don't think that should be different in my setting. I really like the different types of vampires in the Dresdenverse. Vampires come in three larger species and a number of smaller ones. I really like this approach.

First off though I am going to come up with a basic vampire template. I have chosen to make the vampire template an occupation.

Vampire

Vampires are creatures of the night. They are predators among human kind. Some embrace the beast and revel in being a monster seeing vampirism as a blessing. Others hold on to any shred of their old life and do all they can to hold on to their humanity, to them vampirism is a curse.

White Court Vampires: White court vampires are not as powerful as other vampires. But they do not have any of the drawbacks others do either. White court vampires feed off of emotions of their victims. Strong emotions of fear, hate or lust being the food of choice. When a white court is provoked he must pass a willpower roll (14) or his appearance will shift. His eyes become a steel gray and all color fades from his face and skin and it becomes almost transparent. Gray and black veins show through his skin.

Black Court Vampires: These vampires are closer to what we know as vampires. Feeding on blood, repelled by holy symbols and destroyed by sunlight. Many believe Bram stoker was influenced by the white court to write his great book to expose and destroy the black court. Black court vampires gain a +2 to starting strength and gain a natural damage reduction of 2. Black court vampires start with disadvantage: weakness sunlight (3), taking 2D6 damage from direct sunlight. disadvantage: weakness holy symbols (1) repelled.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

In the past I used to love big heavy games. Gurps, Hero, and any number of big games. But a lot has changed in past years. Between time constraints and real life intruding my attitude has really changed. These days I really love rules lite games.

Its simple and light system, But modular enough to add to it as you see fit. One main concept of the game is no classes. Instead the classes Warrior, Rogue and Mage are your main attributes. The more you put into that attribute the better you are at doing things associated to that class. Warrior is your base attribute for combat and feats of strength. Rogue is your base attribute for subterfuge and feats of agility. Mage is your base attribute for Arcana and Feats of Intellect.

The customization you can put into your character using this system is great. If for example you wanted to make a ranger you could put points into Warrior and Rouge. A Cleric could be a mix of Warrior and Mage.
And an arcane assassin would be a mix of Rogue and Mage. This is a huge step ahead of most simple fantasy systems where picking a race and class combo is about as custom as it gets. There is a good number of examples of fantasy races.

Skills and talents round out the character creation process. (not looking at magic yet). Skills are simple you either are skilled or you are not. A skill gives a +2 bonus to rolls covered by that skill. You can only take a skill based on one of the core attributes if the character has at least one point in that attribute. So if you have no points in rogue, you cant take the thievery skill for example. This is elegant and simple.

The next thing about WR&M I really like is task resolution. Its a roll a D6 and add the appropriate attribute and skill bonus if you are skilled. The die can "explode" meaning if you roll a 6 you count and roll the die again and add it to the total. Adding any more rolls of 6 the same way and rolling again. You roll against a target number based on how complex the task is.

The magic system is a mana point system with difficulties to cast based on how high the circle (level) of the spell is. With armor subtracting from spell casting rolls. The spell list is small but surprisingly covers a lot of ground. Also simple and elegant.

Combat is Hit point based with rolls being made against the targets defense attribute. Combat rolls explode if the character has an appropriate skill and damage rolls always explode.

There is still more I could cover but I'll have to leave it at that for now.

This is a GREAT rules light system. Well worth checking out. A 5 out of 5. To me this is the perfect kind of rules light game. Its light enough for a quick 1 shot, maybe on a night the normal group cant get together. With enough meat on its bones to give it re-playability. And its modular enough to custom to taste for your own setting.

Monday, May 16, 2011

While I really like so much about Modern20. And I find every change from the core d20 to be a major upgrade. There is still a few hold overs from the d20 system I really don't like. As I stated before these are not really concerns any d20 player would even notice. Hit point and feat bloat are two things I just don't like. But still I find it excessive for characters to go into the hundreds of hit points and dozens of feats.

I could never really put my finger on a fix until I started running Castles and Crusades. Some one pointed to the idea of limiting advancement, And the concept behind Epic 6 (which I wrote about here). The idea that since most people are level 1 or even level 0 goons, level 6 is very heroic from that point of view. Even most literary heroes are level 6 or less. (More info on Epic6 wiki).

The only change I would make is in the original Epic 6 characters still gain Exp and still gain feats every time they gain enough Exp to gain a level. I would instead say exp and level still advance but all level dependent bonuses as well as feats stop at level 6. And only skill points are still gained beyond level 6.

I'm not totally convinced level 6 is the right cut off either. It worked fine for C&C but I kind of wonder if Level 10 would not be a better stop point and just end all advancement there. Still a lot to think about.

For the second part of this post I thought I would share with you a statement by Charles Rice, Author of Modern20. As to the reason for making Modern20.

"Modern20 was where I really tried to go far afield. I had been writing and running modern games since 2001 and had seen them all- Spycraft, Call of Cthulhu d20 and so on.

I really decided to take a different path- instead of trying to make "modern archetypes" like Spycraft I took a different approach- your character is class is about HOW you do what you do, not what you do.

Thus you can have Vic Mackey (from the Shield), Pembleton (from Homicide), or Goren (from Law and Order: Criminal Intent).

Mackey is an intimidating thug (Tank), Pembleton walks into the box and gets you to ADMIT what you did (Star) and Goren uses obscure science and psychology to find a killer by getting inside his head (Brainiac).

And yet, they're all detectives.

D20 modern tried to solve this dilemma with a half measure, through the basic class. In d20 Modern parlance Mackey would be a Tough Hero/Detective, Pembleton would be a Charismatic Hero/Detective and Goren would be a Smart Hero/Detective.

However, I didn't think that went far enough, even with the addition of occupations."

As well as changing around feats and adding some Modern20 adds disadvantages to the d20 system. Which I think is great. After all making a hero is easy. But with out flaws its hard to make a flawed hero. Flawed heroes and anti-heroes are a staple of the modern game.

Another great change is the elimination of critical hits. Instead there is a hit location system that takes into account extra damage for hits to vital areas. As well as a system for called shots.

Another concept I really like is the use of Action Points

"Action Points are that certain something that makes a hero a hero. That spark that causes someone to go out of their way to risk their life for their fellow man, whether fighting terrorists, drug smugglers or creatures of the night."

The number of action dice you receive grows as your character gains in level as shown on the table below. All dice are rolled and added together.

Level Action Dice
1-4 1D4
5-8 2d4
9-12 3d4
13-16 4d4
17-20 5d4

"Your total number of Action Points is equal to 6 plus one-half your character level. Each time you gain a level your Action Points reset to your new total. Action Points do not carry over from level to level.

Between levels, there are several ways to recover Action Points including: going to aid of a contact or follower; going to aid of an Allegiance; the activation of a character disadvantage."

Ok, now for my concerns with using Modern20 in my own games. Most class abilities are now feats and progression in feats is a lot heavier with one new feat per level, Like with true20. This is actually something I don't like, Although this should be no problem for most all d20 players. Feat, hit point, and number bloat is one of the things that turned me off of the d20 system to begin with.

(Disclaimer: I'm not sure if this is a review, a fanboy gushing, or what it is. I just hope that it sheds some light on to what exactly Modern20 is)

A while back I did a little post about modern20. You can find it here. The more I look at these rules the more I like what I see. I thought I would take a little time to dive a little deeper into just what makes this game tick. And what is different about it and D20 modern. (Quotes from the Modern20 book willbe in gold

Chapter 1 character creation:
Right out of the box this set of rules differ from D20 modern at Chapter 1 character creation. And truthfully this is where the meat and potatoes of the changes are at. And will be the focus of today's post. In Modern20 you choose a class. The classes were fairly broad allowing you to find one that would encompass the character you planned on playing.

In Modern20 your character First chooses his background, Where did he grow up? what kind of lifestyle did he come from? Was it blue collar, white collar, or academic? There are 16 backgrounds to choose from all together. With room to come up with a few yourself if needed. "Backgrounds provide a basic level in skills and a base amount of Wealth."

Your next choice to make is your occupation. There are 33 occupations to choose from. And again there is room to create more if they are needed for your setting. "Occupations can be changed several times over the course of your career and provide Wealth, skill access, feat access, improved feats and perks."

Next you choose a hobby. This is something your character doe in his spare time away from profession and adventuring. "Hobbies provide a basic level in a single skill."

Next is your characters class. Like d20 modern these are very broad classes. Made with a lot of wiggle room to provide a lot of flexibility within each class. These classes are:

Powerhouse

"Powerhouse characters are the enforcers, those who specialize in taking the fight to their enemies. In many organizations, Powerhouse and Tank characters comprise the “front line”, with Powerhouse characters specializing in expanding influence, while Tank characters specialize in protecting and consolidating any gains."

Speedfreak

"Speedfreak characters are combat oriented, but use their high Defense and enhanced mobility to great effect, attacking where their opponents least expect it."

Tank

"The Tank specializes in sucking up damage. He can take hits that would fell even other combat-oriented characters and come back for more."

Brainiac"Brainiac characters are thinkers. They are able to master more skill types than any other character class. Brainiac characters are not great fighters but they aren’t completely useless in a fight either."Empath"Empaths are always in touch with their surroundings, making them excellent healers and outdoorsmen. They also have the best saving throws of any class, because they are centered and calm in the face of dangers of all types."

Star

"Stars live the good life. They may not be a “star” in the sense of a famous performer but wherever the Star works, he is, well, a Star."

These six core classes cover just about every character type. There is of course rules for multiclassing as well making for a lot of wiggle room when it comes to making the character you want to play. This eliminated the need for basic, advanced and prestige classes. On that same note the core of the rules are still d20. I'm sure if you really wanted some form of advanced or prestige classes you could fit them in with a little house ruling.

The skill list has been streamlined. Its neat and trim with several changes. Some skills were rolled into other skills, others were changed, And even a few new ones added. My favorite part about the skill system is perks."Opposed skill checks are gone, replaced with targeted".

Perks are a lot like abilities and specializations you gain access to for being skilled and experience in the given area. Like the skill engineering. Perks could give you further knowledge of electrical, structural, or mechanical engineering. Another example of perks is in using weapon skills. Yes weapon skills were added too, but not like you might think. Being skilled with firearms will allow you to know your weapon better. While weapon proficiency and BaB determines how well you shoot. Firearm skill determines your penalty for multiple shots, penalty for tricky shots, weapon repair, and general knowledge. Perks in firearm gives you access to special attacks like double tap, called shot, and effective burst fire.

The combination of skill and perks system also take a great framework for psionics and magic. With psionics your skill determines your ability to control and understand your powers. And perks must be taken for each type of psionic power. With magic its the same but each perk buys you a new spell. And the level of spells you can learn is limited by your skill level.

There is still a lot left that can be covered like allegiances, reputation, how wealth works differently.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

I really love the set defenses in Mini-Six. It really speeds up play and keeps the fun rolling. Some people like a bit more detail in combat. The difference between a punch doing 4D of damage and a gun doing 4D really needs to be extremely different in some settings. Especially in a gritty setting.

My Idea is to separate Soak from armor. A weapon like a bat does what I'll call stun damage. And a gun does what we'll call deadly damage. Soak is now only used against stun damage. To show stun damage on wound levels just put a slash [ \ ] in the box. Keep track of it just like any other wounds. If you reach incapacitated, your character is knocked out. If the characters have every box on the wound track has a stun slash in it start back at the top and make the slash into an X in the box [X]. An X in the box is how you track deadly damage from guns of other lethal weapons.

Since armor is now separate from soak. Armor needs to have new values assigned to it. Armor value is used to calculate wounds from deadly damage like soak is used with stun damage.

While I really like how D6 space, D6 adventure, and D6 Fantasy handle advantages I like how the "D6 system" book handled them better. It assigns between 1D to 3D (although could be higher). The cost or price of the advantage or disadvantage is in skill points. So a 2D in a disadvantage gives you 2D in skill poimts to spend.

The reason I like this is I could use those die as a modifier. If a character had -2D of poor eye sight I could use that as a modifier to hit roll medium range or further. Loos two die from your die pool.

While I live the base system the AntiPaladin games has put together I see a lot of room to expand. Call them Advantages, Disadvantages or Feats. I'm just going to call them Traits.

I like the Idea of traits because they could be good traits or bad traits.

Another reason I like the Idea of traits being a blanket term for both good and bad is because some traits could be used for both. For example Wealth could be used either way. A -2D wealth is poor, while +2D is wealthy. Another example of this could be reputation or Sanity. Sanity could go positive or negative. Especial in games involving some old gods.

In the "D6 system" book traits are kept to whole die numbers. 1D, 2D, 3D ect. But I don't see any reason pips could not be used as well. For example if a character had a Sanity of 3D. And slowly started going mad the GM could take away a single pip from sanity game by game. Or a player with a bad reputation with a group could slowly work it off. Every good dealing with the group his bad rep is raised a single pip.

What are common referred to as feats could also become traits. For example in your game you could have a trait called "quick reflexes" which if takes adds to initiative rolls. Or a trait on "kung fu", every die of "kung fu" the player can split the die between fighting skill and parry defence in hand to hand combat.

Another use of traits is racial traits. Like elves having night vision. If an elf had 2D night vision he could use those die to offset penalties for poor or no lights. A dwarf with magic resistance of 2D could use the die to resist magic effects. Or add the die (diex3) to his soak for magical attacks.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

For one the d6 system holds fond memories for me from the starwars RPG. Although the d6 starwars has been out of print for some time now its still got a very loyal following. Its rather light for a system that can do so much.
I think in its early incarnation in the starwars system most people would call it an old school system. Maybe not 70s D&D old school, But still a pillar system that a lot of our hobby stands on.

And now its OGL. Thank Eric Gibson for that. No matter how you about his and west end games rocky history he has given our hobby a great gift. Thank you Eric Gibson!

And Thank you AntiPaladin games. They took the basics of the d6 system and made it into a little fast and easy to play game game.

I think for a little bit I'm going to concentrate on some d6 content. So stay tuned for more on d6.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

You know what just hit me (sure I'm not the first to think of it). D6 system is now OGL with Opend6. And the Starwars license is up for grabs. A company could put the game out again in its original system.

Monday, March 28, 2011

The very nature of kitchen sink settings make them a ton of fun. They often need really flexible rules to cover anything from magic to fighter jets. And the fact that im really a rules lite kinda guy these days lets try mini-six for it, Just to see how is shakes loose.

Here are the came class ideas but as Templates. Since this is a heroic scale game in giving 14D to attributes. Any attribute above 4 needs an explanation (cyberware ect.).

BoosterBoosters are super soldiers. Their bodies have been pushed to the limits of human perfection. After the great war many boosters became mercs or sell swords. Some took up a cause of one kind or another to fight for.The booster system uses both nanotech and combat drugs.

Might: 4D

-Climbing 4D+1

-Jumping 4D+1

-Swimming 4D+1

-Brawling 4D+2

Agility: 5D

-Dodge 6D

-Stealth 5D+2

-Melee 6D+2

Wit: 3D

-Weapon smithy 3D+2

-Tactics 3D+1

Charm: 2D

-Barter: 3D

Dodge: 18, Block: 20, Parry: 20, Soak: 12 (18 )

The Booster system gives the booster amazing regenerative ability. Boosters regenerate 1 wound level every twenty minutes. Boosters are hyper aware, they get full dodge even when surprised.

A booster can over charge his system once per 6 hours. This over clocking will add one die to Dodge parry and block as well as all attack rolls for a single combat. But does one would level of damage to the booster.

Ken
A Ken is a master of mystic arts. Able to manifest his inner-strength through his body.

A ken can come from any number of belief systems. Maybe he believes his power is ordained or god given.

No matter the belief system his mastery is unquestionable.

Might: 4D

-Climbing 4D+1

-Jumping 4D+1

-Swimming 4D+1

-Brawling 4D+2
-Endurance 4D

Agility: 5D

-Dodge 6D

-Stealth 5D+2

-Melee 6D

Wit: 3D
-Meditation 3D+1

-Tracking 3D+1

-Religion 3D+1

Charm: 2D

-Barter: 3D

Dodge: 18 (20), Block: 18 (20), Parry: 18, Soak: 14

A Kens body has been honed from years of physical training. A Kens have a natural soak of +2. Ken almost never wear any form of armor. When not wearing any form of armor a Ken may add +2 to dodge and block against any attack he is aware of. A ken may jump three times the normal distance, and fall/jump up to 20' with out being hurt.

A kens fists are hardened from years of training going Might+1D damage. At level 6 a ken may add 1D damage to any simple martial weapon as well, as they become an extension of his body.A ken starts out with a martial weapon and 2d6x10 Credits.

Ronin
A Ronin is a sell sword. A soldier for higher. Ronin are very often men of principle and not simply a merc. Ronins live by a code. A word given is a bond in blood. while they call no land their own or patron their lord. when in a contract or sworn oath of any kind they are totally loyal.

Might: 5D

-Climbing 5D+1

-Jumping 5D+1

-Swimming 5D+1

-Brawling 5D+2

Agility: 4D

-Dodge 4D

-Stealth 4D+2

-Melee 5D
-Driving 4D+2

Wit: 3D

-Tracking 3D+1

-Armory 3D+1

Charm: 2D

-Barter: 3D+2

Dodge: 12, Block: 17, Parry: 15, Soak: 15 (25)

A Ronin has no qualm with altering his body to better his abilities.

Both arms are cybernetic replacement.

Right arm has a hidden blade +2 dmg to punch when extended.

Left arm as a ram system. Can be used once before needing recharged. Might+2D dmg Scale2.

Pain editor givens the ronin the ability to ignore pain taking no penalty for wound levels.

Ronin always carry a battle blade. These blades are almost always vibro-blades, These blades are functional as well as a mark of their station as a warrior.

A Ronin starts out with a vibro-sword +4D (ignore 2 soak), a Heavy pistol 4D, an smg 3D+1, and a battle rifle 5D. Ronin Start with ceramisteel plate armor (full set +10) and 3d6x10 Credits.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

I really was one of the people who didn't get into the d20 explosion. When I moved to Texas I had just a few gaming books with me. Its was the 7th Seas core books, Legends of the 5 rings core book, My 3rd edition GURPS core books and the newly released DMG an PH for 3rd edition D&D.

3rd Edition D&D and D20 seemed so promising. Loved the Idea of it. Loved the idea of feats and skills. I had long since stopped playing any fantasy games, Let along D&D.

By the time I found a gaming shop and gamers to play with d20 was rolling strong. But the only players I could find that played it were massive power gamers. The way they played was not the style I wanted to run so I really didn't get anything rolling with 3rd edition. Instead I got into a group oF GURPS players. GURPS was all I really played through out the next 5 years or so.

So Its funny that now, after all the hype over d20 is mostly over that I now own so many systems derived from d20. True20, Mutants & masterminds, and Castles & Crusades. I still take issue with feat overload. But that is nothing a little house ruling cant fix.

I'm glad to add one more version to my collection.

I have actually had Modern20 for a little while now. But just recently got a chance to look through it in depth. While I have read through a lot of games derived from d20 that were basically the OGL with house rules I have to say Modern20 is a bit of a redesign.

The math is about the same. The structure is d20. But the character side of things is totally redesigned. Characters are designed using backgrounds, occupations, and class. There is no need for prestige classes because character development is open enough to build the character you really want to play.

One innovation I think is weapon skills. From having weapon skills you get better with the weapon in way beyond just a to hit bonus. For firearms this means better at making multiple shots or called shots. For melee weapons this could mean improved parry, Shield training, or two weapon fighting.

I think Modern20 is great. I'll be using it here soon for a few games.

I picked up the PDF but I think ill be picking up a print copy here soon.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

In the Mini-six book there is a few sample settings in the back. One is called Farnsley’s Phantasm Investigations.

Its a Victorian era monster hunting game. After reading through it I watched a movie called the vampire effect. In the movie vampire hunters use a serum made from "vampire blood extract" to make them stronger for a while. It got me thinking. This is a lot like the serums and potion version of ripper-tech in the savage worlds setting Rippers.

So I propose adding this to Farnsley’s Phantasm Investigations as a form of alchemy. Alchemy will be a wits based skill. With recipes an alchemist can make all kinds serums, elixirs, and potions. Each part of a monster can create a set number of items. Each possible item requires a skill roll a failed roll means that elixir is lost. So if a single vampires heart can be used to create five vampire heart elixirs. Five skill rolls are needed. Each successful skill roll creates an elixir. Each Failed roll is lost, the elixir doesn't come out right. If 3 out of 5 rolls are successful only 3 elixirs are created and all the rest of the material is wasted. All items take a set amount of time per item. If the alchemist has access to a full lab follow the times listed. If the alchemist has only a portable lab double the time to create.

Here is a few examples I'm doing for my write up.

Mummy flesh elixir.Number of elixirs can be harvested from a single mummy:6Difficulty to create: 20Time to create: 30min per elixir attempted.
Drinking this purple viscous fluid gives the the character exceptional strength (+3D) for 15 min.

Mummy heart elixir.Number of elixirs can be harvested from a single mummy:2Difficulty to create: 16Time to create: 1hour per elixir attempted. Drinking this gray runny fluid gives the the character exceptional courage (+2D) to all forms of courage or fear checks for 30 min.

Vampire blood elixir.Number of elixirs can be harvested from a single vampire:5Difficulty to create: 20Time to create: 30min per elixir attempted. Drinking this thick blood red fluid gives the the character a surge of regenerative power. The character consuming it gains a wound point back. Or regenerated wounds points equal to might if wound points are being used. Effects is instant.

Vampire heart elixir.Number of elixirs can be harvested from a single vampire:2Difficulty to create: 20Time to create: 1hour per elixir attempted. Drinking this blood red fluid with visible strips of shrived heart floating in it gives the the character greater ability (+2D) in diplomacy, persuasion, and seduction. If the target is of the oposite sex the effect is even greater (+3D). Lasts for 1 hour.

Vampire Sight potionNumber of potions can be harvested from a single vampire:2Difficulty to create: 24Time to create: 2 hours per potion attempted. This potion is held in a diminutive dropper. A drop placed in each eye uses one potion. The fluid is blood red and often runs down the face of the user during the whole effect giving the user the uneasing appearance of crying blood. During the time of the effect the character can see in total darkness just as a vampire can. Lasts for 30min.

Soul Wafer

Number of wafers can be harvested from a single ghost:1Difficulty to create: 26Time to create: 2 hours. A spirit can be extracted from a clay vestal with a long proses. The spirit is stripped of the ectoplasm that allows it to hold form in this world. The ectoplasm is boiled down to a single drop oozing goo that is baked in to a small wafer. After eating the wafer the character becomes incorporeal for a very short time. lasts for 2 min.

Not every item needs to be created from a monster. For example:

Vampire replant elixir.

Cost: diminutive. $Difficulty to create: 15Time to create: 15 min. per elixir attempted. This potion looks like murky water and smells a lot like garlic. The user is at -1 to all social skills as long as he is in close quarters with his target for up to two hours (-2 if the target is in higher standing in society). During the duration of the elixir any vampire who bites the user must immediately make a might check diff 20. The vampire is instantly repelled and disgusted by the taste or even smell of it. On a failed might roll the vampire is wekened and will rech up blood he has recently digested. Elixir lasts for 1 hour.

Another idea for the setting is a new cane.
While the "ecto" cane described in the gear section is used to capture ghosts and spirits. Another kind of cane is starting to be used too. The "slayer" cane is capped with cold steel decorative topper for dealing with fae and other beings from the wyld. The lower tip has a silver gilded stake spring loaded in it. With a push of a button it extends and used for staking vampires or piercing the heart of werewolves and shifters alike.

Monday, March 14, 2011

In my last post I Gave a very quick over view of what mini-six is. Ill go over it again and in a bit more depth with this post. As well as how to use it in a slightly different way.

Mini-Six is a condensed version of the westend games D6 system. Its the system that was used in the westend games Starwars. One change to the system, or more an addition to the system is set defenses, much like savage worlds or cinematic unisystem. Rather than all combat being opposed rolls, combat can be rolled against a set number based on the player/npc/monster abilities. To me this is nice since that is the one complaint I always had about the system. Combat can take a while and involve adding up a lot of die on both attack and defense.

Now that D6 has become OpenD6 it is now OGL. A few different companies are planning to use it, Two most notable to me are mini-Six and C6 (Cinematic six).

I Was reading over Mini-Six and hit the side bar about running Mini-Six with out Attributes. And something hit me. Mini-six could be played like Risus or Warrior, Rogue, and Mage. Rather than Attributes and skills why not just use descriptors.

Much like Warrior, Rogue, And Mage (awesome rules-lite game btw) you could just assign die to a descriptor. For example you could spread 9 die around the descriptions Warrior, Rogue, And Mage.
Say I was making a character who was good at swinging a sword, but better at thievery, Knew a little magic but not much could be: Warrior 3D, Rogue 4D, Mage 2D. Any action that falls into the realm of one of these classes uses the die assigned to that descriptor to make a test.

It just shows me how versatile the d6 system is. Add attributes, Add skills, Or play with out either.